Provider’s Corner

Here at Wellspring Family Medicine, we want our patient care to extend beyond the normal patient visit. We believe that providing a method for connecting our patients with their providers on a more regular basis establishes a method to higher quality patient care.

A message from Dr. Stephanie Sisler

Thanks to everyone who responded to our poll on antibiotics! As this winter season has been full of streptococcal sore throats and sinus infections, we feel this is an important topic for patients to be thinking about and educated on.

It is always recommended to complete the entire course of antibiotics as prescribed, without stopping the course early. Even when symptoms have fully resolved, there can still be bacteria present in your body. If these bacteria are strong enough, they can continue to grow, and the infection may return. This can also lead to antibiotic resistance, which means that when the infection returns, the bacteria no longer responds to the antibiotic that was used the first time. If this is to spread to other members of the community, they may also not respond to first-line antibiotics, leading to wide-spread difficult-to-treat infections.

In these cases, stronger antibiotics often need to be used, leading to more side effects and increased healthcare costs. It is also important not to share medication with family members. Dosages may vary, particularly in children, where medication is based on their age and weight. This also will leave the initial patient without a full course of antibiotics, leaving them at risk to remain ill. Also, if symptoms do not fully resolve, partially-treated infections can sometimes be more difficult to identify when an individual who shared another person’s medication eventually gets evaluated by a provider.

If you have further questions on antibiotic use or antibiotic resistance, please speak with your provider at your next visit. Thanks for sharing, and stay posted for our next patient poll!